RFC 3041 (rfc3041) - Page 1 of 17

Privacy Extensions for Stateless Address Autoconfiguration in IPv6

Alternative Format: Original Text Document
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Network Working Group                                          T. Narten
Request for Comments: 3041                                           IBM
Category: Standards Track                                      R. Draves
                                                      Microsoft Research
                                                            January 2001


   Privacy Extensions for Stateless Address Autoconfiguration in IPv6

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   Nodes use IPv6 stateless address autoconfiguration to generate
   addresses without the necessity of a Dynamic Host Configuration
   Protocol (DHCP) server.  Addresses are formed by combining network
   prefixes with an interface identifier.  On interfaces that contain
   embedded IEEE Identifiers, the interface identifier is typically
   derived from it.  On other interface types, the interface identifier
   is generated through other means, for example, via random number
   generation.  This document describes an extension to IPv6 stateless
   address autoconfiguration for interfaces whose interface identifier
   is derived from an IEEE identifier.  Use of the extension causes
   nodes to generate global-scope addresses from interface identifiers
   that change over time, even in cases where the interface contains an
   embedded IEEE identifier.  Changing the interface identifier (and the
   global-scope addresses generated from it) over time makes it more
   difficult for eavesdroppers and other information collectors to
   identify when different addresses used in different transactions
   actually correspond to the same node.











Narten & Draves             Standards Track
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